Man jailed after committing multiple sexual offences against children

A young man who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl on a train in Adelaide's southern suburbs has been jailed for more than 12 years for that and other "predatory" sexual offences involving children.

Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault that some readers may find distressing.

Dylan Nicolas Lloyd, 24, of Aldinga Beach, previously pleaded guilty to four episodes of offending involving three real children and one fake child online.

This occurred over three years, between October 26, 2020, and January 11, 2024 — when he was arrested a day after the incident on the train.

In sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Sandi McDonald said Lloyd's case was "extreme and unusual" and that, despite attending multiple sexual behaviour treatment programs, his offending had escalated over time.

"To have engaged in such persistent and prolific sexual offending at such a young age is a grave cause for concern,"

she said.

She said Lloyd's first offences involved sending sexually explicit messages to a fake 11-year-old child on social media — an account that a work colleague had created after becoming "concerned he may be communicating with female children online".

"Your messaging was persistent and sexualised from the outset," Justice McDonald said.

She said Lloyd arranged to meet with the fake child, but his work colleague reported the messages to police.

She said Lloyd's second instance of offending involved sexually assaulting a 10-year-old child during a planned group outing to a games arcade in Adelaide's south. 

He had previously been convicted for a charge of aggravated indecent assault for that offending and was placed on a good behaviour bond.

Justice McDonald said Lloyd breached that bond when he began sexualised communication with a 13-year-old child in New Zealand via Pinterest in November 2022, when he was aged 20. That offending continued until February 2023.

"You were persistent in your pursuit of a sexualised relationship," she said.

"Your messages were extraordinarily prolific and you were emotionally manipulative and insistent in pursuing your sexual engagement with the victim."

She said the messaging included causing the child to send an explicit video and images and also involved threats of violence towards the child's family.

Justice McDonald said Lloyd's most recent offending was the indecent assault and unlawful sexual intercourse against the 12-year-old on a train bound for the southern suburbs, when he was aged 21.

"The victim attempted to ignore you and looked out the window. You, however, persisted, leaned over and placed your hand on her leg and kissed her on the temple of her left eye," she said.

She said the offending continued, and Lloyd was "not deterred by the fact there were other people seated around you on the train".

"Your victim attempted to look around to attract attention of other commuters, however, no one came to her assistance," Justice McDonald said.

The offending ended after the girl exited the train, and threatened to alert police.

The offences were captured on CCTV and Lloyd was arrested the following day.

Justice McDonald said Lloyd's offending had impacted many people, with the mothers of each of the victims providing impact statements to the court.

She said the statements had detailed the profound and ongoing trauma felt by each of the victims and their families.

"[One mother] spoke of her heartbreak in knowing her daughter had to live through what no child should ever have to face and she grieves the innocence that was taken from her child," Justice McDonald said.

She said Lloyd's personal circumstances included a history of inappropriate sexualised behaviour and that he had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. She said was bullied at school and had been diagnosed with autism at 10 years old.

"It is of concern that despite your issues with inappropriate sexualised behaviour, identified from a young age, and the provision of repeated, extensive counselling over many years, you've gone on to offend in such serious ways," she said.

Justice McDonald said despite Lloyd's pleas, he had a history of denial and victim blaming, and had suggested his offending on the train was linked to alcohol abuse — a submission she rejected.

She said an apology letter that Lloyd had penned demonstrated his "extraordinary lack of insight" into his offending.

"There was nothing about the apology that appeared to be genuine or heartfelt; it reads as though you were simply going through the motions of making an apology for court purposes,"

she said.

Prosecutors had applied to the court for Lloyd to be indefinitely detained for his offending, but Justice McDonald declined to do so.

She set a non-parole period of nine years and nine months, making him eligible to apply for release on parole in October 2033.